


Before You Go

by Nashville12



Category: Daisy Jones & The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:27:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27690683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nashville12/pseuds/Nashville12
Summary: Camila Dunne is about to pass away, but before she does, she needs to get things in order and make sure her family will be ok.
Relationships: Billy Dunne/Camila Dunne, Billy Dunne/Daisy Jones
Comments: 5
Kudos: 4





	Before You Go

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Finn4](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finn4/gifts).



> This is just what I imagined, or hoped happened before Camila died and after the girls talked to Billy.

**November 17 th, 2012**  
  
  
The phone rang loudly, snapping Daisy Jones out of a trance.  
  
She was sunbathing next to the pool as she watched her sons play with their own children in the shallow end.  
  
It was a cool November afternoon in California; probably too cold to be in the pool, but they didn’t care. The children were laughing and screaming and splashing and playing, and Daisy found herself lost in their joy. The innocence of it all. The carefree wonder of being thrown into the air by the strong arms of their fathers and being caught by the loving arms of their mothers.  
  
She got lost in the beauty of her sons.  
  
The boys that made her truly feel alive again and find purpose and love.  
  
From the minute she laid eyes on them in an orphanage in Thailand, she was obsessed with them. They were a family, and she told herself she was now complete. She had everything she would ever need in her life. Her sobriety, her sons, their wives and children, her Wild Flower Initiative… true peace. Not to mention amazing friends like Simone, and a plethora of bestselling books.  
  
  
But there were days, like today, where she found herself lost in the dreams of what was, what could have been, and what would never be.  
  
Her time in The Six.  
  
The band.  
  
Teddy Price.  
  
Music.  
  
Singing.  
  
Billy Dunne.  
  
  
She hadn’t seen him or talked to him in over thirty years. Not since she walked away from the band in Chicago and chose to never look back.   
  
She didn’t regret it.  
  
Leaving.  
  
Salvaging a family that could have possibly imploded because of her. But she would be lying if she said she never thought about them. Julia, the twins, Camila… Billy.  
  
He plagued her thoughts more often than she would like to admit and he had scored himself on her heart so deeply, that she had never loved another.  
  
When you had a love like that… or felt like you had a love like that… or know a love like that exists because of a specific person, no one else can ever measure up.  
  
She lived with the memories, both good and bad, pushed down the heartbreak that never fully healed, and threw herself into her passions, willing herself to keep Billy Dunne in the past where he belonged.  
  
  
Until five months ago, when she received a letter that shook her to her core.  
  
________________  
  
  
  
 _June 16 th, 2012_  
  
  
 _Dear Daisy,_  
  
 _I don’t even know how to begin this letter, so I guess I will start with “hi”. How are you? Seen any good movies lately? How about them Chargers...?_  
  
 _Ok, enough of that.  
  
I know that I am probably the last person you expected to hear from, or probably ever wanted to hear from again, but here I am. I hope this letter finds you well, and that you have found a life of excitement, adventure and love that has filled your soul with the fire I know you need to survive._  
  
 _Now, for the reason I am writing you out of the blue like this.  
  
I am not doing well, Daisy. To cut to the chase, I am dying actually. Lupus is a real bitch (sorry, but it is) and has finally decided to wear my body down to a point where I have had to admit the truth to myself and my girls. Heaven is calling and unfortunately, I’m going to have to answer the call soon. _  
  
_Billy is a mess. So are my girls. Billy is in denial, Julia is trying to fix it, and my babies are babying me like if I don't move a muscle, I won't go. They need me, and I have to go. It's not fair. It's not fair to them, it's not fair to Billy, and it's not fair to me._  
  
 _I don’t want to go. God, I don’t want to. I hate this. All of this, and I’m so sorry to dump this all out on you after all these years, especially after I pushed you away so hard, but I promise I’m getting to a point.  
  
So…whew. Let me try to make it._  
  
  
 _My family needs me. They need a strong, driving force that keeps them together. The glue. Billy doesn’t know how to relate to the girls now that they are adults. I have always been the glue. They need someone to be the glue. So… I am asking… for that to be you now._  
  
  
 _Billy has never stopped loving you. He has never said a thing to me about it, but I know that man better than he knows himself, and while he is fiercely loyal, he has always had a special place in his heart for you. A part that I know I have never possessed. I made my peace with that years ago, but now I am asking you to pull it back out of him. The fire, passion, excitement... love. Be there for him after I am gone. Love him. Take care of him. Hold his hand and dry his tears, then help him get over me and live the rest of his life happy and loved._  
  
 _Julia still adores you to this day. She has kept every book you’ve ever written and every article that mentions anything about your life on her bookcase in every single place she’s lived. From her dorms, to her first apartment, to her house with her fiancé now. She’s going to need you too. Love her like I would. Help her when she becomes a mom. Be by her side while she’s getting ready for her wedding. She’s going to need her mom there, and since I can't be, I am begging you to be there for her._  
  
  
 _Susana and Maria are fighters. They are tough and strong and brave, and you might have to work a little harder to break through their tough exteriors. Please work at it. They’re going to need you too. Don't let them be forgotten in the grief._  
  
  
 _I know this is a lot to ask. I know it’s probably not even appropriate for me to be reaching out to you after I was the one who sent you away decades ago. But the truth is, there isn’t anyone else I would trust to love my family and take care of them like I would. I know that you love them. You always have. They love you too._  
  
 _We all do._  
  
 _Now, Billy is going to need some time after I am gone. He is going to need to grieve and get everything in order and remember who he is without me first. But I am writing him a letter after I’m done with this one, explaining things. Well, I’m writing it to my girls. They’ll give it to him when the time is right. But I’m going to ask him to reach out to you. So please… when he does…_  
  
 _Answer the phone._  
  
 _I love you too, Daisy Jones. I always have, and I hope that you know that every decision I have ever made, has always been out of love and love for my family.  
  
You are my family now, and I choose you for them._  
  
 _Take care of yourself, your beautiful family, and my beautiful family who I hope, will now be yours too._  
  
 _Thank you. A million times over, thank you._  
  
 _All my love,_  
  
 _Camila Dunne_  
  
__________  
  
Daisy kept that letter in her bedside drawer, reading it over and over again, letting the words sink in.  
  
She kept it with Camila’s obituary and a rosary she had picked up in Spain when she traveled the world after The Six.  
  
  
Now, she jumped every time the phone rang. Her heart started to race and she was instantly transported back to her twenties and the feeling in her stomach she got every time Billy looked at her.  
  
But it was never him.  
  
Until that cold November day by the pool.  
  
When the phone rang, she almost didn’t get up. It hadn’t been Billy up to this point, and she was enjoying the feeling of the sun on her skin and the sound of her grandchildren’s giggles.  
  
But she did.  
  
  
“Hello?”  
  
  
There was silence on the other end.  
  
She hung up and shrugged as she turned to walk back outside.  
  
The phone rang again and she felt that familiar jolt in her bones as she turned and lifted the phone in the kitchen to her ear.  
  
  
“Hello?”  
  
  
Silence.  
  
  
“Really, kids? Seriously, leave me alone.” She huffed, and was about to slam the phone down out of disappointment when she heard a voice call out on the other line.  
  
  
“Daisy?”  
  
  
She froze as her heart started pounding in her ears, the years melting away at the sound of his voice. The voice she hadn't heard in so long. The voice that still made her spine tingle and sent goosebumps racing down her body.  
  
She put the phone to her ear as she croaked out, “Billy?”  
  
“Hey.”  
  
She smiled to herself as she said, “Hey back.”  
  
She bit her lip as she waited, tears welling in her eyes unexpectedly. A reaction she wouldn’t have expected after all these years.  
  
“I… uh… how have you been? It’s been a while…” Billy’s voice was low and hesitant, the years and sadness thick in it.  
  
“Thirty-three years and four months to be exact.” She tried to smile as she spoke, but she felt a lump forming in her throat against her will.  
  
Billy sighed on the other end and she could almost see him rubbing his face with his hand.  
  
“Feels like…another lifetime ago.” He whispered.  
  
  
“It was.” She matched his tone as she rested her forehead against the wall.  
  
They were silent for a while, sitting in the awkwardness of the time passed, but reveling in the magic that had never left them when they were together.  
  
  
“So…I…uh… heard you…got a letter.” Billy said it as a statement instead of a question. He knew what she had gotten and what was said. Not specifically, but enough. Enough to know he had Camila's blessing.  
  
  
“Yeah... I heard you got one too?” Daisy’s voice was shaky as she felt the butterflies growing in her stomach.  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
She closed her eyes as she waited to hear what was going to come next.  
  
“Can we…meet somewhere? To talk? About…everything?” Billy’s voice was hesitant, like he was afraid she would say no.  
  
  
“I thought you’d never ask.”  
  
  
___________________  
  
 **Billy Dunne and Daisy Jones married on January 5 th, 2013, in a small ceremony with just their children and grandchildren in attendance. They live together in Los Angeles with their two dogs, and have begun to write music together again, selling their songs to artists like Lady Gaga, Little Big Town, Ed Sheeran, Brandi Carlile, The Jonas Brothers and many more. Their children blended into one new family beautifully, and the girls are thrilled to have two new brothers. **


End file.
